


Checkmate

by thekatthatbarks



Series: Shikasaku Week 2020 [4]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Day Four, F/M, Getting Together, Happy Ending, Light Angst, Romance, ShikaSaku Week 2020, drip drip drip (our blood), trigger warning: blood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-30
Updated: 2020-03-30
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:27:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23394763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thekatthatbarks/pseuds/thekatthatbarks
Summary: “Sometimes, you just have to be thankful for the pieces you had managed to keep on the board.”“You’re saying that you don’t always use all the pieces before the King is captured?”“If you’re at the point where you’re just throwing pieces in front of the King to protect him, then you’ve already lost.”“But isn’t the King the most important piece? Shouldn’t you still try?”“I suppose that’s something for you to decide.”
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Nara Shikamaru
Series: Shikasaku Week 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1679083
Comments: 2
Kudos: 87





	Checkmate

“Sometimes, you just have to be thankful for the pieces you had managed to keep on the board.”

“You’re saying that you don’t always use all the pieces before the King is captured?”

“If you’re at the point where you’re just throwing pieces in front of the King to protect him, then you’ve already lost.”

“But isn’t the King the most important piece? Shouldn’t you still _try_?”

“I suppose that’s something for you to decide.”

***

Shikamaru had mixed feelings about being a pawn on a shoji board. The general use of them were to distract, mislead, and protect. They could take out other pieces sure, but they were usually simply what the name implied – a _pawn_. Something to use as a sacrifice, a weak shield.

Loyalty usually won out and he was happy to be whatever piece the _king_ needed.

He had just never expected how it would feel. How the other feelings were absent in his heart, their accompaning thoughts abandoning his mind. There was no hesitation, no sorrow or grief, no selfish thoughts of his own life. The certainty and lack of regret almost surprised him.

He felt a smirk grow on his face even as the blade sunk itself through his stomach. His hands gripped at the one on the other end of the sword, holding it firmly in place. He looked up to see the wide eyes of the man in front of him.

_Checkmate._

***

****

Sakura didn’t often think back to past missions in the middle of a battle. Maybe similarities crossed her mind now and then, but it was usually because there was a tangible connection.

But the scene that played out in front of her was screamingly similar to the first _real_ mission she ever went on.

Her lungs and heart had decided to stop working, her eyes wide as they met the back of a spiky ponytail. She was vaguely aware of her lips parting, her tongue trying to make words come out of her shocked mouth.

Seconds ago, and she had seen the shine of a blade, an attack she wouldn’t be fast enough to avoid. For all she was worth, Sakura should’ve spent more time training on her speed. It was glaringly apparent then as she thought about how it would slip between the space of her lowest ribs. She’d already accepted it would cause more damage than she could mend. The last thought that had crossed her mind was hope that Shikamaru was fairing better in his own fight.

Now, all she could see was a young boy standing in front of a mist assassin with her sensei’s hand through his chest.

It had happened in a matter of seconds.

Sakura felt cold, her muscles shaking with fear that she hadn’t felt since the war, since she was a child.

The enemy quickly got over his surprise and jerked his hand out of Shikamaru’s grip, his blade going with him. Sakura’s eyes followed as Shikamaru coughed and fell to his knees in front of her. His blood was thick as it dribbled from his chin and onto the grass.

Instinct was the only thing that kept her alive as she dodged the swipe of the blade directed at her. It felt like a scream was trapped in her throat when she ripped her eyes away from Shikamaru to the enemy sending another strike towards her.

She didn’t feel like she was possessing her own body, her mind as foggy as the mist from that day when she was twelve. The next attack was aimed at her chest and she caught the blade with her hand, blood seeping through her thick gloves. The stupidity of the defense took him by surprise and in his hesitation, Sakura yanked the sword over her shoulder and sent her fist to the man’s stomach. He flew meters away from her, his limp body twisted in an inhuman way where he landed.

Sakura was by Shikamaru’s side before the body had even touched the ground. He was kneeled over, and Sakura moved him to his back, ripping open his vest and tearing the mesh armor beneath. Her hands went to the wound and she instantly poured chakra into it.

A painful gasp left his lips and Sakura reeled some of the chakra back – she had overcalculated and poured too much at once. She felt herself babble, the unshed tears running freely down her face, “Sorry, Shikamaru. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Shikamaru bit the words out through blood stained teeth, his breathing ragged.

Sakura felt like the blade _had_ embedded itself in between her ribs as she searched out every tear in Shikamaru’s insides. Her hands were soaked in red and she could hear a story playing in her head, Tsunade’s somber voice telling her about her fear of blood that she barely managed even now. Maybe Sakura would become even more like her master.

_She hoped it wouldn’t come to that._

Sakura hadn’t even realized she’d been talking until she felt her tongue pause in her mouth at Shikamaru’s plea, “Sakura, please stop.”

She couldn’t even recall what she had been saying.

She swallowed thickly, her voice hoarse. “I’m not going to _stop_. I _can’t_ stop. You – “

A hand was on her thigh and her eyes went to his face even as her hands continued to do what they did best. He had a smile on his lips but was looking at her with unconcealed worry. “Sakura, don’t kill yourself.”

“Like _you_ just did?” She almost screamed the words, her chest shaking. Anger gurgled in her throat and rushed through her veins, mixing horribly with the cold fear.

The wind howled, picking up her hair and laying it against the stickiness of her tear stained cheeks. But it was quiet, so quiet and Sakura’s mouth threatened to run just to fill the heartbreaking silence.

Shikamaru told her in a tired voice a moment later, “If we both die, then it didn’t mean anything.”

A cry escaped her, and Sakura looked back to her blood-soaked hands instead of the way Shikamaru had closed his eyes clearly trying to focus on his breathing. Sakura relented only because she couldn’t do that to him, make his sacrifice mean nothing besides a few extra minutes of her own life. “I won’t drain all my chakra.”

“Thank you.” He sighed, his relief seeping out into the air around them. His peace felt like it wrapped around her throat and choked her.

She wanted to tell him she hated him for doing this to her. For not just letting her face death herself when she was who he had wanted to take. For leaving her here. For ripping her heart into more of a mess than his stomach was.

She meant to tell him that she hated him, but all that came out was a broken, “I love you.”

A laugh fell from his lips. It was airy and barely there, but Sakura knew it for what it was with how he smiled, his chest vibrating. “If you haven’t figured out that I feel the same… after all that… then you’re not as smart as I’ve given you credit for.”

Her own laugh slipped out of her lips, followed by something like a sob. Her tears dripped off her chin to mix with the blood on her hands.

Shikamaru lost consciousness seconds after and Sakura tried to pull herself together. She took a deep breath and focused on her chakra stitching love back together.

***

She didn’t remember passing out but could feel the cold grass beneath her as someone shook her shoulder. She opened her eyes and blinked as the image of him became clearer above her.

He was exhausted, blood still matted to his front and his muscles looked like they were trembling. But he had a smile on his face, his eyebrows pulled together. “You’re never going to listen to me, are you?”

She gave him a tired smile. “I said I wouldn’t drain all my chakra and I didn’t.”

Shikamaru huffed and fell against her, his lips pressed to hers. It was a tired kiss, sloppy and weak, but Sakura felt so much from it all the same and it took her breath away.

“You’re insane.” He leaned his forehead against hers.

Sakura held his face in her hands as his breath ghosted across her skin. “Oh, are you trying to tell me you didn’t know that?"


End file.
